05/21/2021 India (International Christian Concern) – Vikram Singh, age 31, is a pastor from the Ratlam district of India’s Madhya Pradesh state. After spending two weeks in the hospital with a severe case of COVID-19, Pastor Singh could no longer afford his hospital bills.
“The tragedy,” Pastor Singh told International Christian Concern (ICC), “was thinking about my family’s survival. The cost of the medication in the hospital was an added worry to the illness that I was going through.”
“I had no money at all,” Pastor Singh continued. “I told my family to borrow 10,000 rupees from a money lender and that was barely enough to cover my expenses in the hospital.”
The borrowed money quickly ran out and Pastor Singh’s hopes of getting back to normal slowly diminished. Desperate, he reached out for help.
“I sent a video message to my congregation to help take care of my family,” Pastor Singh told ICC. “I struggled with breathlessness, because of my infection, but I did it anyway as I was losing hope.”
Thankfully, Pastor Singh survived this near-death experience. However, Pastor Singh’s wife recently started showing symptoms of COVID-19.
“I don’t know where to turn now for my wife’s treatment if that turns out to be critical,” Pastor Singh told ICC. “I decided to pray and put my hope in the Lord with a thankful heart of pulling me out of my death bed.”
Pastor Singh is one of millions in India reeling from the devastation of the current surge of COVID-19. More than 25 million people have been infected with the virus and the country has recorded over 280,000 deaths. The actual number of cases and deaths is likely much higher due to underreported cases.
Earlier this week, ICC launched an appeal calling on its donors to raise funds to provide critical aid to Indian Christian like Pastor Singh. To date, ICC has supported thousands of Christians in India struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For interviews, please contact Addison Parker: press@persecution.org.
